No 720p support on TV... so now what?

[L0Y4L1S3R]

I want to get Dish HDTV, but my plasma TV only supports 480p and 1080i.

My concern is what happens to shows (like those on ABC and FOX) that are broadcast in 720p?

Is the image cropped? Will it not show? Is it downconverted to 480p? Will the Dish HD equipment support my setup?

If it is going to be bad quality... should I serously consider getting a plasma that supports 720p, or is it not that bad?

Thanks!

 

[mike_johnson]

Dish HD receivers allow you to pick a fixed resolution, 1080i, 720p, or 480p and will then convert all programming to that resloution. In your case, set the receiver for 1080i and the 720p FOX and ABC programming you are concerned about will be scaled to 1080i for display on your set. This won't be a problem for you.

By the way, welcome to SatelliteGuys!

 

[DWS44]

On the Dish HD receivers, you select what format (480p, 720p, or 1080i) that you wish to use, or that your TV supports, and that is the format that is delivered to your TV...regardless of how it is originally broadcast. In your case, you could set the receiver to 1080i output, and anything broadcast in 720p would be upconverted to 1080i.

EDIT...nothing like saying the same thing at the same time, huh!

 

[Bradtothebone]

Is your plasma TV HD or ED (extended definition)? What I'm getting to is, if the native resolution on your screen is 480p, then that is what you should set the receiver to output. The reason I ask is that MOST HD plasmas are native 720p.

Brad

 

[mathius8]

i'm guessing that it will be downconveted to 480p, that's what mine does, it should say somewhere in your owners manual "720p signals are displayed at 480p". don't worry to much though, it's still a very clear and nice picture.

also just because you set the 811 to 1080i dosent mean everything will be displayed at 1080i. if this was true we would not need any new hd channels because we would already have every channel in hd.

 

[SimpleSimon]

... also just because you set the 811 to 1080i dosent mean everything will be displayed at 1080i. if this was true we would not need any new hd channels because we would already have every channel in hd.

Just for clarity, let's not confuse broadcast resolution with display resolution.

There's the resolution it enters the receiver at (anywhere from 480i to 1080i, or even 1080p). Then, there's the resolution the receiver sends to the display, which can be SD (480i), or all the way up to 1080i. The receiver handles up- and down-conversions with various changes in PQ.

 

[caesar gdi]

also just because you set the 811 to 1080i dosent mean everything will be displayed at 1080i. if this was true we would not need any new hd channels because we would already have every channel in hd.

You are wrong. the 811 will display all channels in 1080i. it will upconvert, scale, line double or whatever you want to call it, a lower signal to 1080i. but an upconverted signal still looks alot worse then a true 720p or 1080i signal.

 

[PILMAN]

Yeah I have mine on 1080i and my plasma is an edtv only supports 480p but it still works, picture looks way better at 1080i but it downscales from what I heard. Tried my moms 15" lcd and it only works on 480p, if I try any higher the thing doesn't display anything on the screen.

 

[j5races]

simon what channels/shows are sent to the 921 in 1080p? I thought they were not broadcasting 1080p yet, have they or are you just giving an example?

Thanks Jon

 

[SimpleSimon]

Just an example. AFAIK, there's no 1080p actually in the wild yet.